We were recently asked to do a marketing audit by an investor of a troubled startup.

We.Software*, a young company offering software design services to healthcare companies, set forth to conquer the world. They had set aside a marketing budget of 100K per year over three years. Three years went by, but they didn’t get the traction.

When going back and analyzing the marketing spend by their marketing agency (a boutique agency based in Seattle), we noted that a full forty percent of the budget went to pure design related assets, like logo, website design and document assets.

STOP.

If your agency wants to spend forty percent of a budget on design related assets, please find a new agency.

At the start of a company, lean and agile approaches means spending very little on design assets and more on customer research and product marketing (things that actually grow your business).

For a logo, use a crowdsourced asset for an inexpensive logo.

For a website, use a WordPress template.

As your company matures, there will be a place for more significant spend on design and brand assets.

In the meantime, here are things that maybe wise to spend your budget on: